Africa-Press – South-Africa. My bookshop is under threat … My lease has been terminated.”
This was the SOS that the owner, Andre Marais, recently published on Surplus Radical’s Facebook page.
The niche bookstore opened its doors in May 2021, initially as a three-month pop-up shop housing Marais’ personal collection of approximately 40 000 books gathered over four decades.
The venture was a success – and Marais, a former high school teacher from Hanover Park, decided to make the progressive space a permanent feature in bustling Woodstock for bibliophiles and activists to convene.
It is the only black-owned, independent bookshop in Cape Town, according to the owner.
But, less than two years after its genesis, Surplus faces closure.
The landlord – Shack Dwellers International (SDI) – terminated the lease agreement.
Initially, Marais was expected to vacate the building by the end of October, but has requested more time.
“It’s been a traumatic couple of weeks since I’ve been issued with this notice,” he said.
The director of SDI, Beth Chitekwe-Biti, said Marais had failed to honour the terms of the lease agreement.
“Our relationship with Mr Marais has until recently been largely cordial and collaborative even. He is on a month-by-month lease. He has not honoured the lease terms.
“We have, in the past, made concessions. However, we cannot continue to do this as we are also dependent on the rental income we receive to finance our own work.
“We have, therefore, given Mr Marais ample notice to find an alternative space. In our conversation last week, Mr Marais requested an additional two weeks to enable him to move into another space that he has found. We are considering his request,” she said.
Surplus will apparently be moving into Bertha House in Mowbray.
The managing director at Cape Town Property Group, Taryn Heywood, told News24 that Marais had repeatedly paid the rent late.
Cape Town Property Group manages the building on behalf of SDI.
“Since August 2021, Mr Andre Marais has breached the lease on 10 occasions,” she said.
Marais admitted that he had paid the rent late several times, but had “never refused to pay” – and he had apologised in writing for the infractions.
“I’m very confused by their intransigence and their reluctance and refusal to get into a negotiation with me,” said Marais, who had hoped to garner sympathy from the organisation which fights on behalf of the urban poor.
Highlighting that Woodstock is an area devastated by gentrification, he felt that he was the beneficiary of an “eviction process”.
Marais, who has always dreamed of owning a bookshop, said his landlords didn’t realise the value his business brought to the community.
“The groundswell of support from activists and like-minded people for all my programmes has been beyond all my expectations,” he said.
Desmond Painter, a supporter of the bookshop and an associate professor of psychology at Stellenbosch University, said Surplus was “a real asset to the city’s cultural and intellectual life”.
“In its relatively short existence and, despite Covid, it’s become a hub of community-oriented and politically transformative encounters and activities, a place for chance encounters and good conversations about books, politics and life.
“I have had meetings with colleagues and students, had great conversations with the owner, and sometimes just took refuge from the city and browsed the amazing collection of books. It’s the kind of shop Cape Town can’t afford to be without,” he said.
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